Computer and network systems such as personal computers, workstations, and server systems, typically include data storage systems for storing and retrieving data. These data storage systems can include data storage devices, such as hard disk drives, solid state storage devices, tape storage devices, and other mass storage devices.
As storage systems have evolved, cloud storage systems have emerged as an alternative to local storage systems. Cloud storage systems, such as distributed file systems (DFS), can distribute storage of data across many data storage centers or data storage systems, abstracting the physical location of data from end users or client devices. Thus, a cloud storage system can have a multitude of data storage devices distributed over one or more data centers which may be physically distant.
Various packet network protocols, such as Internet Protocol (IP), can be used by a client device to interface with the DFS. In contrast, typical data storage devices rely upon block level data storage interfaces, such as Serial ATA (SATA), or Serial Attached SCSI (SAS), among others. Integrating these data storage devices and associated data storage interfaces into DFS environments can present challenges for DFS management nodes to track where data is allocated among individual data storage devices.